Maynard, MA, USA: Beacon-Villager newspaper column on local history, observations on nature and recreational activities, plus an occasional health-related article. Columns from 2009-11 collected into book "MAYNARD: History and Life Outdoors." Columns from 2012-14 collected into book "Hidden History of Maynard." - David A. Mark

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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Boy Scouts of Maynard: Trail Work

Through decades, Maynard's Boy Scout Troop #130 has
conducted numerous Eagle Scout Service Projects to improve outdoor recreational
opportunities in Maynard. These include creating and improving the town's
Summer Hill and Assabet River Walk Trails, work at the Assabet River National
Wildlife Refuge and on the Assabet River Rail Trail, and clearing the Marble
Farm historic site.

To earn the Eagle Scout rank, the highest advancement rank in
Scouting, a Boy Scout must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership,
service, and outdoor skills. Although many options are available to demonstrate
proficiency in these areas, a number of specific skills are required to advance
through the ranks: Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, and
Eagle. Scouts must pass specific tests that are organized by requirements and
merit badges. The top three ranks require community service projects.
Approximately five percent of Boy Scouts reach Eagle Scout.

Jason installing plaque on fence post
(Click on any photo to enlarge)

On April 4, 2009, Maynard Boy Scout Troop 130 spent the
better part of a damp spring day cutting down trees and clearing brush from the
Marble Farm site, next to Rockland Avenue, and erecting a post and chain fence
bordering two sides of the foundation. This was an Eagle Scout project by Jason
Schomacker. A plaque on one of the fence posts shows a photo of the house, with
barns and other outbuildings seen in the background.

The Marble family had moved to this site circa 1710. Their
descendants (Marble, then Whitney, then Parmenter) owned it through 1924, when
the house was destroyed by fire. The site has the potential for being an
interesting addition to Maynard’s history, but without periodic maintenance it
gets rapidly overgrown.

Boy Scouts on completed bridge. Jakob Dickson at left end.

This year, on September 19, 2015, the Troop spent a warm
fall morning under the aegis of Eagle Scout candidate Jakob Dickson, carrying
lumber a quarter mile into the woods and then building a bridge over a creek.
Funding was provided by the Town of Maynard,
courtesy of the Conservation Commission. All the pressure-treated lumber was pre-cut and delivered
to the trail head by Butler Lumber. The finished bridge spans sixteen feet and
is 3.5 feet wide. The two beams are each three 2x8 by 16 foot long, nailed together.

The Assabet River Walk Trail has signed entrances from the
cul-de-sac at the end of Colbert
Avenue and on Concord Street. From Colbert, the Trail
can be very wet, and is also too root-ridden, root-riven and root-rampant to be
managed on an off-road bicycle. From Concord
Street the first half of the trail is walkable and
rideable, then progressively wilder after the bridge crossing. Just before the
bridge there is an option to head farther east. This alternative route leads to
good views of the AssabetRiver. The river here is
still water (not moving) because it is backed up behind a dam next to Route 62,
in Acton. All
parts of trial are marked with white blazed painted on trees.

New bridge viewed approaching from north side

Not in the newspaper article: The land is shown on town maps as town land, designated either Lemoine Land or Colbert Hill. There was a Fred Lemoine who served in World War I and an Edward Lemoine listed as donating to the Collection at St. Bridget's Church, November 1907. One end of the Trail is to Colbert Avenue, named for Eugene Colbert's family who lived nearby on Glendale Street starting around 1879. His son Daniel Colbert identified as a founding member of the Twilight Club (1904) a social organization that had a cottage on Lake Boon. But there are no Historical Society details on why these two names are associated with this plot of land. There are remnants of stone walls and drainage ditches crossed by the Trail, suggesting this was pasture.

Recent wildlife sightings in the area include several deer and a rafter of
turkeys. (Venery, the proper naming of animal groups, declares
that turkeys in plural are a rafter in the same way that geese grouped are a
gaggle if on the ground but a skein if aflight.) The River Walk also introduces visitors to
native and invasive plant species. Natives includes numerous beech trees,
identified by smooth grey bark, and also poison ivy. Invasives include Japanese
knotweed at the Colbert end, Japanese barberry at the Concord end, garlic mustard, burning bush,
multiflora rose and Oriental bittersweet throughout. These dominate the forest understory
because they are all plants deer disdain to eat.

Whitetail fawn with spots

Anyone interested in learning more about Troop #130's
activities should visit http://web.maynard.ma.us/troop130. This website
provides a description and history of the Troop, including past Eagle Scout
projects. The Troop is chartered with the Boy Scouts of America and sponsored
by the Union Congregational Church. Scouting in Maynard dates back to 1927.
Going forward, there were years with no troop, one troop or two troops (#1 and
#30). The two merged at the close of 1984 to form Troop #130, which continues
to this day.

Girl Scouts also have an active presence in Maynard, as part
of Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. Earlier this year Rachel Hahn earned
her Girl Scout Gold Award - the highest level, requiring 80 hours of toward a
community service project - for creating a website, informational brochure and
events about autism inclusion resources.